Love Suspended
by Ceillean
Summary: On a mission to get Master Durron out of trouble, Luke makes an extraordinary new friend who opens his eyes and he realizes that life goes on, that life must be lived, even without Mara at his side.
1. Chapter 1

"There's a review scheduled for later tonight." Maika glanced up from the control board where his fingers hovered above a multitude of glowing and blinking buttons and knobs. Unlike his partner, Maika was doing his job. Adya, on the other hand, was daydreaming.

Again.

"Seriously, Adya?" Maika grabbed his dark blue uniform cap and flung it towards her, narrowly missing her head by only a few inches. Undoubtedly Adya was making up insane stories about one of those holo stars she adored so much. Throughout the years that Maika and Adya had worked together, Maika had had to listen to life stories of people he didn't give a rats' ass about. Currently, Adya really liked Starr Light and seriously, what kind of a name was that for a guy?

Adya opened baby blue eyes and a whole lot of confusion was written all over her pretty face. Eyebrows raised, pink lips shaped into a small o, strands of blond hair sticking to her cheek where she'd propped her head in the palm of her hand.

"Who was it this time?" Maika asked, not even hiding the evil grin that nearly split his face in half. "Starr or that other guy? What was his name? Jorge Nova?"

Adya's face flushed the way it always did when Maika caught her red handed. She sat up straight and tucked hair behind her ears. She was a very pretty middle aged woman who, in Maika's opinion, had no business daydreaming about men she couldn't possibly have. It was a waste of time and the sooner Adya realized it, the better.

"I…um…" She rubbed the back of her neck, pulled at the collar of her blue uniform jacket. And when she smiled, Maika knew it wasn't real. Usually her dimples showed. "You said something about a review?" Adya asked, pushing away from her control console. Slowly, she took her uniform cap into both hands and fidgeted with the _Aldir Recreational Facility's_ insignia. "I'll be back later." She turned her back on him but then stopped to cast a look over her shoulder. "Wait – what time are they going to be here?"

"Between eight and nine. Where are you going?" Maika stood, crossed his arms over his chest. Adya thrust her chin forward and swallowed. She was a truly beautiful woman and it was a shame that she had yet to open her eyes and see how much he actually valued her company.

"I need some fresh air."

"We're on a space station, Adya. There's no such thing as fresh air up here."

"The equivalent will do nicely." She bit out before leaving Maika to stare at the bleak grey door that quietly closed behind her.

* * *

It wasn't too difficult to keep up the appearance of a quiet old man as long as Luke didn't interact too much. Hello here, hello there, that was it. It was all he could afford lest the Force mirage dissipated and someone recognized him. He was pretty damned good in using the Force but changing his appearance for more than a few minutes wasn't one of his talents. Standing behind a group of overly chatty tourists, Luke watched the numbers on the display above the door of the turbolift. Two more levels and he'd reach the accommodation hub, subsection alpha. Master Durron's last known location.

Contact to the Jedi Master had broken off the previous morning and although Kyp wasn't keen on following rules, he always reported in. Twenty four hours without a word and all sorts of alarm bells went off.

Half the group of tourists stepped off the turbo lift with a bunch of ooh's and aah's as they got out their holocameras and started snapping shots of an entire section of gaming booths, ranging from sabbacc to I'trel dices and whatever else a recreational facility at the edge of the galaxy offered.

Luke squeezed his way past the last few guests as the turbolift arrived at his destination, and was instantly grateful as the only thing he could hear was absolute silence. A long grey corridor stretched out before him, glow panels attached to the ceiling leading the way. His boots hardly made a sound as he walked along the carpeted walkway, carefully reaching out with his senses. With each step he took, he let go of his disguise.

The shock of white hair was replaced by his short dirty blond mop. Wrinkles and scars disappeared. The weight of holding on to this fake persona lifted from his shoulders and Luke breathed more easily. He checked his com link, no new messages and then took a look at his wrist chrono. He knew Kyp could take care of himself but this fact relieved none of his worry for his old friend.

Kyp had checked into the recreational facility under his old alias, Zeth Fost. A meeting had been scheduled with a renowned criminal who worked the underground meticulously and this renowned criminal was also the only contact they had to a lead concerning a lost Jedi settlement.

Luke, as the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, had been yearning for a little adventure and since this was more or less only an information gathering mission, he'd been happy to tag along. The old guys going out for a little fun. Only no one had anticipated that things could go this wrong.

Luke sighed. He should have known better. Everything always went wrong. It was standard.

Kyp, or rather Zeth Fost, had checked into room 0512 in subsection alpha and according to the holomap he'd downloaded onto his portable, Luke was standing right in front of the entrance. The door was locked because otherwise this would have been too easy. At first, Luke tried nudging the lock with the Force. It didn't work and eventually, he gave up. Inwardly, he cursed for not bringing R2D2 along for the ride.

From his tool belt, he extracted a little device that Jaina had given him, just in case. He'd raised a brow because, really, a Jedi Master jimmying a lock? By hand? Who'd have thought?

Smiling to himself, he held the little device to the locking mechanism. Manually, he didn't have to do much. The device did most of the work by itself, going through hundreds and hundreds of variations until it finally spit out the correct code. How long this would take was anyone's guess.

"What are you doing?"

Luke closed his eyes for just a second and then spun around to the voice that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. A woman stood only a few feet away, head tilted to the side while she watched with genuine curiosity in her eyes. She wore the uniform of station staff but she wasn't carrying a sidearm so she wasn't station security.

"I locked myself out." Luke said, faking a smile and extending a hand for her to shake. "I'm Zeth Fost."

She looked at his hand and then back to his face. "No, you're not."

Luke blinked. "Pardon?"

"That's not your name."

He cleared his throat and hooked the device back to his tool belt. "I think I know who I am." He said, adding a bit of irritation to his voice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find someone who can open the door for me."

He went to pass her but the woman reached out and took his arm. "I know who you are." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "And there has to be something big going on if a Jedi Master is here."

Luke tried not to groan. Force, he hoped she wasn't another one of _those_ fans…

"My name is Adya Venta." She shook his hand like a crazy woman, bobbing his arm up and down until his entire body shook. "How may I be of service?"


	2. Chapter 2

On the cold ground, knees pulled up to somehow protect his ribs, Kyp had trouble sucking in just the tiniest amount of air. Breathing hurt. Moving hurt. It was a vicious circle given the maniac with the heavy boots trying to make jelly out of Kyp's innards.

"Tell me what I want to know." He wore a mask that covered the top half of his face. Kyp made out a crooked nose and a scar that ran down the center of the man's lips. And he was _tall_. Inhumanly tall.

Kyp coughed and rolled onto his knees, holding one hand to his abs while using the other to get himself into a somewhat crooked sitting position. Smiling and tasting blood on his lips, Kyp lifted his head and met the tall man's stare. "You really wanna know?" He coughed again, feeling as if his ribs were scraping against what was left of his lungs.

The man grunted, waiting for an answer. As if it would be this easy to break him? He nearly laughed.

"You hit like a Schutta."

Not necessarily the smartest thing to say, given the circumstances, but Kyp really didn't give a damn.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" The man spat.

Kyp, breathing heavily as he forced himself onto his feet, shook his head. "Course not." He said between clenched teeth. "No thinking involved, sweetheart. It's a known fact."

The man's fist slammed into the side of Kyp's face. He stumbled back, hitting the wall, surprised to feel all his teeth still in one piece.

"You asked for Khaszdan. Why?"

Kyp grunted when he pushed away from the wall. "One universe, countless galaxies, countless planets and billions and billions of individuals and I have the unfortunate luck of meeting your dumb ass."

The man grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and nearly pulled him off his feet. Kyp wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of the man's breath as he spoke. "You will regret these little games once I am done with you."

"Two words, friend. Breath. Mints."

The man flung Kyp aside and like a child's doll, he slammed against the wall with arms flailing about. He hit his head pretty hard and stars clouded his vision and angels began to sing.

* * *

"You must have me confused with someone else." Luke said, drawing on the Force to anchor this suggestion into the woman's mind. Problem was it had absolutely no affect. He'd expected her to go about her way with a laugh and a fleeting apology but instead, she crossed her arms across her chest and raised a blond eyebrow.

"Are you trying to use one of those Jedi mind tricks on me?"

Damn.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, miss. My name is Zeth Fost and I'm only trying to get into my quarters, that's all." He gestured to the closed door with a nod of his head. "If you'll excuse me, I have to contact station authorities."

Luke began walking down the stretch of corridor, hoping that the woman, Adya, wouldn't follow him but his luck had run out. He heard her steady footsteps on the carpeted floor behind him and then she called out for almost everyone to hear. "It'd be really great publicity for the station if they knew a Jedi was on board!"

Luke swung around in midstep. He grabbed Adya's upper arm non-too-gently and pulled her into a quiet corner, away from prying eyes and listening ears.

"What do you want?" He hissed at her, softening his grip as she looked down at where his hand encircled her upper arm. She wasn't a very tall woman, reached up to his shoulders if even that. The insignia on her uniform told him that she was part of flight control, which was on the far side of the station, if he remembered correctly.

"I don't want anything." Adya said, shrugging off his hand. "Why are you here?"

Well, there was no need to lie to her anymore. Even though he knew he had to tread carefully, maybe Adya could actually be of some help. "I'm looking for my friend. I lost contact with him a few hours ago. This was his last known location." He gestured to the closed door. "I need to get inside."

"Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Her sudden smile was radiant and lit up her entire face. Blue eyes sparkled with excitement. "I have a friend. He can get you inside."

"Why?"

Adya blinked. "What do you mean, why?"

"Why help me? What do you want?"

"I already told you." Her smile slowly faded away, replaced by something akin to disappointment. But really, what did she expect? Nothing was free nowadays, especially when a Jedi was involved. "I don't want anything. I'd just like to help."

Luke sighed. He didn't trust her. But her help would make this situation so much easier.

"Fine." He said. "First thing's first. I need to get into those quarters."

* * *

All she'd wanted to do was clear her head, breathe for a moment before heading back to the control tower. Maika's stupid taunts wouldn't let her go. So what? She liked to pretend that life was better. Was there something wrong with that?

Sitting up in that control tower day-in and day-out and living on the station was wearing her out. She hadn't set foot on real dry land in months so daydreaming was her only escape.

Never in a million years had she thought she'd meet a real life Jedi, though. Luke Skywalker himself! Adya had recognized him the moment she'd seen him. He was even more handsome than in all those vids she liked to watch.

And now she had the chance to help him, to escape her reality for just a little while.

"Wezz will be here in a few minutes." She said, tucking her comlink into the pocket of her uniform. "He owes me a favor."

"He'll ask questions, won't he?" Master Skywalker asked, tilting his head to the side just a little. Adya swallowed and smiled shyly. She wasn't used to being around good-looking men. Sure, there were a few cuties on the station but none of them were interested in her and the ones she _thought_ she could hang out with didn't much care for her. She was nervous all of a sudden, hiding trembling and sweaty hands in the pockets of her uniform trousers.

"I'll make up some story." She said with a shrug. "He's a good guy, so don't worry."

Master Skywalker turned away but she heard him whisper "Who's worried?" in that tone of voice she recognized as bad news.

Adya chewed on her lower lip. A voice in the back of her head was getting louder by the minute. Go back to your average, quiet life and you won't be in danger. She wasn't sure whether or not she _was_ in danger but given a Jedi Master on the station…yeah, pretty obvious there.

But the average, quiet life was killing her.

She needed this.

"What about your friend?" Adya asked.

"What about him?" Master Skywalker turned to face her. Standing in front of a large viewport that showed the beauty of the stars beyond, Adya yearned for a holo camera. No one she knew would believe that she was actually talking to the one and only! It was getting increasingly more difficult not to break out into a fit of giggles.

"Is he…you know…" She lowered her voice. "A Jedi?"

It took a moment for him to answer, as if he was deciding whether or not to tell her. "Yes."

"Oh my – _seriously_? Two of you here? This is absolutely amazing!" She couldn't help it. Her smile turned into quiet laughter and then she felt a blush creeping up on her. He must think her insane!

"I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head. "Just ignore the sudden embarrassing outburst. But wait! Can't you use the Force to look for your friend? Jedi are powerful like that, aren't they?"

"It doesn't work that way." Master Skywalker raised his eyebrows.

"But you're a Jedi. You can do anything. That's what the holonet –"

"The holonet lies."

"Oh." Adya pursed her lips. She should have known, actually. Still, it was kind of disheartening.

She heard a fall of heavy footsteps pounding their way. Her friend Wezz, one of few she had on the station, approached with a little tool kit in his hand. From the corner of her eye, Adya noticed how Master Skywalker hid in the shadows. Evidently, he didn't want to be seen.

So this part was up to her alone.

Inside, she was jumping with joy.


End file.
